Abs exercise

Sicilian crunch

Lie on the floor with a rolled-up towel under your lower back. Slide
your feet under the handles of heavy dumbbells and hold another

dumbbell across your chest. Raise your upper body as high as possible by

crunching your rib cage towards your pelvis. At the top of the move,

straighten your arms to raise the dumbbell above your head.
Take 4 seconds to lower your body to the starting position.
Do 10 repetitions.

Fitness

The downside of pushups

if you have weak shoulders, even the most basic exercises could disable you.
Researchers found that 14 per cent of shoulder injuries occurred while people were doing pushups and pullups. "This is most likely the result of poor shoulder stability," says Bill Hartman, CSCS.
To protect your shoulders, try this routine once a week: at the end of your workout, do two or three sets of pushups with your hands on a Swiss ball. "This helps strengthen and stabilise your shoulder joints," says Hartman. Do 15 reps per set.

Nutrition

Burn off sugar

A kitchen appliance could lead to a better diet. Toasting white bread makes it healthier, according to a UK study.
When participants ate bread that had been frozen, thawed and toasted, their blood sugar rose 39 per cent less than when they ate fresh slices. Both freezing and toasting worked on their own, reducing glycaemic response by at least 26 per cent each. It could be that these processes alter starch and prevent it from breaking down into sugar.

Stress

Running away from stress

The next time stress gives you the urge to curl up into the foetal position, take a quick jog instead. A study found that exercise relaxes you more than just being a slug. The study followed 34 moderately active students and tested them in three different environments: sitting quietly in a room, jogging at their own pace in a laboratory and exercising wherever they liked. Those who sat on their duffs weren’t any more relaxed after 20 minutes, but those who exercised had a 20 per cent reduction in their anxiety levels.

Weight Loss

Eat to lose

It's midweek and your energy levels are beginning to flag. Time to hit the gym, but you don't have the stamina to even drag yourself over to the place. No wonder. You ate your last meal at 1.30pm and now its 6pm. The hours in between have depleted your body's energy reserves. If there's a blender handy, make a shake with 1tsp whey protein powder, a chopped banana and yoghurt.
{mosimage}Or else, munch on a nutrition bar before exercising. And if you're short on time, burn the most calories and keep the blood pumping vigorously with one single workout: the treadmill. This is the big daddy of fat-burning cardio machines, killing as much as 865 cals per hour, according to research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
If you are into building muscle, follow up the pre-workout protein shake with some good carbohydrate afterwards. A whole wheat bread sandwich with egg scrambled in spinach qualifies as good carb. "Post-workout meals with carbs increase your insulin levels," which, in turn, slows the rate of protein breakdown, says American nutrition expert Doug Kalman. The eggs send more protein to the muscles and the antioxidants in spinach fight muscle damage due to intensive workout.